Edward David Freis (1912-2005) was an American cardiologist who made key
contributions to clinical and scientific understanding of cardiovascular
disease. He is best known as the father of the first double-blind,
multi-institutional controlled clinical trial of cardiovascular drugs, the
Veterans Administration Cooperative Study on Antihypertensive Agents. This
landmark study demonstrated that treating high blood
pressure--hypertension--with medication could dramatically reduce
disability and death from stroke, congestive heart failure, and other
cardiovascular diseases. Freis received a Lasker Award in 1971 in
recognition of this work. The study provided the impetus for the
establishment of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program
by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in 1972, and launched
an era of preventive cardiology. The National Library of Medicine
is the repository for the Edward D. Freis Papers, which range
from 1926 to 2004.
The collection contains articles, photographic prints, correspondence, and speeches.

As part of its Profiles in Science project, the
National Library of Medicine is digitizing and making
available over the World Wide Web a selection of the
Edward D. Freis Papers, for use by educators and
researchers. This Web site provides access to the
portions of the Edward D. Freis Papers that are now
publicly available. Individuals interested in
conducting research in the Edward D. Freis Papers are
invited to
contact
the National Library of Medicine.

This online Exhibit is designed to introduce you to the
various phases of Freis's
scientific career and professional life. It is divided
into sections that focus on
Freis's life and major
scientific contributions to public health. We suggest
that new visitors begin with this exhibit, which
includes a small selection of documents and visuals,
organized within these sections. Each section begins
with a "Background Narrative," which leads to
"Documents" and "Visuals."

Visitors may access additional materials through
Search
on the navigation bar. They may also view the materials
alphabetically or chronologically by choosing
Browse
on the navigation bar. Documents and visuals in these
lists are arranged by format and then either
alphabetically by title or chronologically.